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AN ADDRESS 

TO THE MEMBERS 



SOCIETY OF FRIENDS, 



BY 



THE ASSOCIATION OF FRIENDS 
// 

FOR PROMOTING THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY, AND IMPROVING TUI 
CONDITION OF THE FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR. 



PHILADELPHIA : 

MERRIHEW AND THOMPSON, PRINTERS, 

No. 7 Carter'sAUey. 

1843. 



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ADDRESS 



Impressed with the responsibility resting 
•n us, as individuals and members of the So- 
ciety of Friends, in relation to slavery, we be- 
lieve it right to offer some of our convictions 
re^ardinor it to our fellow members, and ask 
for them a candid consideration. 

The frreat question of universal brotherhood, 
is perhaps more fully before the world, than 
at any former period : and the noble position 
assumed by our predecessors, in holding up to 
view the ric^hts of mankind, and their duties 
to each other, imposes on us a heavy respon- 
sibility. The earnest seeking after truth, thai 
characterises the present age, which priestcraft 
cannot bind, nor sectarianism confine, is an 
acknowledged offspring of the pure principles 
and simple doctrines advocated by early 
Friends. Of all sects and persuasions, we 
find humble and honest hearts, " turning back 
from the cavil of creeds," and the worship of 
forms, to follow^ the promptings of their inward 
teacher, in the paths of love and self-denial, 
that their great Pattern has trodden before 
them ; and in view of the inconsistencies and 
gross injustice of the high professors — the 
Priests and the Levites of the day, — is it any 
wonder that these faithful have been constrain- 



\ 



ed to proclaim, both by precept and example, 
'' Brethren let no man deceive you ; he that 
doeth righteousness is righteous." And, friends, 
let us not deceive ourselves : it is not enough 
for us to cry ''We have Abraham for our 
father ;" without the same humble watching 
and faithfulness of action that characterised 
our predecessors in the truth, w^e shall inevita- 
bly fall into the state of darkness and bigotry 
out of which they were called, and the noble 
testimonies bequeathed to us, be delivered to 
other, more faithful, instruments. The danger 
we believe to be imminent ; the syren of flattery 
has encircled us in her arms; when those deep- 
est in the abominations of the land praise us, 
it is time to be alarmed; when the open advo- 
cates of slavery vie with each other in heap- 
ing adulation upon us, should we not distrust 
ourselves ? 

Let the inquiry then come home to us in- 
dividually, as Friends and as Christians, how 
far we have been faithful to the trust reposed 
in us; how far w^e have fulfilled the expecta 
tions of the bondman, as the representatives of 
a name that has filled his soul with hope. 

We are aware that there is much said (and 
perhaps sincerely) of "the danger of acting in 
our own wills ;" and this has been seized upon 
by many high professors as an excuse for 
passing by on the other side, and leaving their 



bruised brethren groaning in their chains, till 
haply some poor Samaritan, less learned in 
the religion of men, journeys that way, to ad- 
minister the oil of sympathy and the wine of 
hope. While we are convinced of the necessity 
of an humble reliance upon Divine aid, of "tar- 
rying at Jerusalem until we receive power 
from on high," we feel it equally important 
that no selfish creaturely reasoning, prevents 
us from having our lamps trimmed, and our 
lights burning, when the cry to go forth is 
heard in our streets — and we would affection- 
ately appeal to those who think they have not 
yet heard the call on behalf of the suffering 
bondman, to consider well the responsibilities 
incurred by throwing discouragements in the 
way of their brethren who feel that this duty 
is laid upon them. Remember the instructive 
reply of the blessed Jesus lo his disciples, 
when the}^ said to him, "Master we saw one 
casting out devils in thy name and we forbade 
him, because he followed not with us." Here 
was the same weakness, and in men who had 
just been authorised to preach the gospel, too, 
that we find amongst us, a disposition to limit 
ail good to the narrow path in which they were 
called to walk, and the reply is equally appli- 
cable now, " Forbid him not; he that is not 
against us is for us." 

How often, too, do we hear the dangers of 



6 

uniting with other than Friends, for the pro- 
motion of good to our fellow-creatures, magni- 
fied and dwelt upon, as if our religion was un- 
fit to guide us in our associations with our 
fellow creatures, and until many have been 
led to believe that such a course is inconsist- 
ent with our principles, and was unknown in 
the earlier history of the Society ; — have we 
not many amongst us full of earnest zeal, but 
who need evidence, striking as the vision to 
Peter, to convince them " that God is no re- 
specter of persons," but '' thatof everj^ nation, 
he that feareth him and worketh righteousness 
is accepted of him' 7 

We desire not to cast imputations of cen- 
sure on our fellow members, but to speak on- 
ly the language of invitation and conciliation; 
and would, therefore, affectionately invite 
those who have suffered their minds to be, in- 
fluenced by the reiteration of these views, and 
have applied the command given to the out- 
ward Jews, to " dwell alone," to us now out- 
Tvardly, to examine the consistency of such 
application. That every soul must dwell alone 
in learning its own duties, we believe to have 
been the experience of all Christians in all time, 
but an opposition to the principles that would 
lead to such a sectarian application, is, to us, 
one of the most striking features in the mis- 
sion of our Holy Pattern. He hesitated not to 



associate with publicans and sinners for their 
good ; the despised Samaritan, as well as the 
self-satisfied Jew, were the objects of his labor 
and love, and a woman of Samaria was made 
an effective co-worker in his cause. Whether he 
spoke in parables or appealed to facts, how 
strongly did he rebuke the spiritual pride and 
intolerance of his day — the parable of the 
poor Samaritan, of the sheep and the goats, 
and his seven denunciations of the Scribes 
and Pharisees ; indeed the whole tenor of his 
preaching, as it is rightly examined, will he 
found to show that his test of disci pleship was 
not the acknowledgment of certain forms, or 
the recognition of peculiar dogmas, but the 
fruits of aheart devoted to God, showing them- 
selves throuGfh love to the brethren. 

" Mixing with the world" has undoubtedly 
been the source of much weakness to our So- 
ciety, but it is not in works of benevolence that 
the snare has been successfully laid. Are not 
<* the tables of the money changers" even now 
''polluting the temple of the Lord"? When was 
there a time in which political partizanship, 
lust for power, and grasping trade spread more 
desolation thfoufrhout the land ? It is mixinjj^ 
in subjects like these that dries up the foun- 
tains of sympathy, steels the heart of man to 
the sufferings of his fellov/ creatures, and lays 



8 

waste the kingdom of the Son of Righteous- 
ness in hissonl. 

But mingUng with others for benevolent 
purposes is not a new thing in our Society. 
Ahnost from its first rise, we find records of 
mixed associations, with influential Friends 
for members. The settlement of this State, 
by William Penn and his friends, must be 
viewed as a benevolent enterprize, intended to 
secure the blessings of religious toleration and 
worldly comfort to the persecuted and needy ; 
yet they not only permitted, but held out in- 
ducements to other professors to join them, and 
it is well for those who are alarmed at the cry 
of ''excitement" and ''noise," that is now raised 
against the Anti-Slavery movement, to know 
that the faithful amongst our earlier Friends, 
names that we all now love to reverence, had 
to pass through the same ordeal. After the 
blessed work of Emancipation had effected its 
end in our own Society, these were not satis- 
fied to rest on their labors, but lent themselves 
earnestly to the work of inducing others to fol- 
low their example. Mixed societies were then 
formed, the records of which may now be con- 
sulted, showing the names of many valuable 
and consistent Friends, who were actino- in 
conjunction with those not of our Society, in- 
cludinjT members and ministej's of other de- 



nominations. Let it not be supposed that there 
was less angry excitement amongst the selfish 
and interested then than now ; we have been 
assured by an aged and worthy Friend, (now 
deceased,) who had been an active member of 
one of these societies, that, in proportion to the 
population, threats of violence were as loud 
and frequent, and agitation ran as high, as it 
ever has since. 

Another prominent charge is, that the Anti- 
Slavery movement is a scheme of priestcraft ; 
that its paid lecturers, editors, and book-agents 
are essentially hireling ministers. Why a per- 
son, who receives pecuniary compensation 
while informing the public of its connexion 
with the monstrous enormity of Slavery, and 
how they may rid themselves of that connex- 
ion, is any more a hireling, in the venal sense 
than the teacher who is paid for informing 
our children how they can best manage their 
own temporal interests, — or why the editor of 
a paper devoted to the interests of humanity is 
necessarily any more a hireling than the paid 
editor of a religious publication, we have never 
been able to see. Our yearly meetings have 
no difficulty in paying the expenses of com- 
mittees to secure the rights of the Indian, and 
have now an agent among them, receiving a 
regular salary. Many facts like these might 



10 

be collected, but we believe enough have been 
adduced, to show the necessity of guarding 
against the tendency that prejudice has to as- 
sume the garb of principle. 

But it is a new and mournful era in the his- 
tory of our Society, when its prominent mem- 
bers and official bodies charge, by implication, 
masses of their fellow citizens with principles 
and motives which they clearly disprove and 
constantly disavow. 

Those who have suffered prejudice to take 
root in their minds, or who, in their de- 
sire to dwell alone and avoid improper ex- 
citement, have kept themselves ignorant, not 
only of the motives and measures of their 
friends who are concerned on this subject, 
but of the awful importance of the subject 
itself, we would affectionately advise, to let no 
feelings of prejudice or worldly fear, no desire 
for ease or popularity, prevent them from seek- 
ing to know their own duties in regard to it. 
We do not feel it our place to point out to any 
a particular course of action, but, after remind- 
ing them of the nature of this important testi- 
mony, the increasing enormity of the system 
to which it refers, the intimate connexion it 
has with all others our Society has been con- 
cerned to uphold, and the bitter fruits of an- 
guish and despair, bereaved parents, and des- 



11 

titute children, that Slavery is hourly produc- 
ing, leave them to follow the teachings of His 
Spirit, whose command is, '' All things what- 
soever ye would that men should do unto you, 
do ye even so unto them." 

Many are too apt, when thinking of Slavery, 
to turn their thoughts exclusively to the South, 
and imagine that all their labor and all their 
condemnation are to be applied there. Much 
censure to the friends of the enslaved is based 
on this view. A little consideration, however, 
we think must convince all of its injustice and 
fallacy. Deeply responsible as the slaveholder 
is, he has many claims upon our commisera- 
tion. Besides the weaknesses and frailties 
common to us all, we should remember, that 
education and long established usage are ob- 
stacles not easily overcome ; and whatever 
may be the convictions of individuals in re- 
gard to abstaining from the produce of slave- 
labor, it is obvious to us, that we are revelling 
in luxuries furnished by the slave's unpaid 
toil. Very slight reflection will be sufficient 
to show that if we, the whole North, were to 
wash our hands of the iniquity, in all its com- 
mercial, political, and religious relations, its 
duration would be short. 

Permit us, in conclusion, again to exhort all 
to a faithful self-examination on this subject ; — 



12 

to '' put our souls in the soul's stead" of the 
sufferers. Let us remember their darkened 
minds, their crushed feelings, the bitter alloy 
that accompanies every new bond of their 
most sacred attachments, and then, honestly 
answer, each one for one, whether we have 
not been more sensitive in regard to a few 
conventional improprieties, and more indiffer- 
ent to the great principles of justice and hu- 
manity, than our duties as Christian brethren 
demand. 

And those who have felt the burthen of this 
testimony laid upon them, whose hearts have 
been touched as with a live coal from the al- 
tar, we would exhort to all faithfulness. If, at 
times, your hands are ready to hang, down 
and your knees to smite together, remember, 
that He who put you forth is able to sustain 
through every discouragement, and cause you 
to triumph over every difficulty. 

By direction, and on behalf of the Asso- 
ciation. 

John D. Griscom, 
Rebecca B. Neall, 

Clerks. 

Philadelphia, 5th mo. dd, 1843. 



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